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China gets ready for EVs in 2015: ELECTRIC CHINA WEEKLY No25

The Chinese EV (electric vehicle) market kicked off 2015 with the first China Electric Vehicles 100 Forum gathering over 700 participants from government, industry and research organisations, who came together in Beijing to cooperate on boosting EV development in China. China is also providing innovative solutions for infrastructure, building an “EV” expressway and combining streetlights with charging piles. 2015 look to be an exciting year for EVs in China.

On 13 – 14 January, the 1st China Electric Vehicles 100 Forum took place in Beijing. The two-day meeting had as its theme “New Ecology for Industry Development,” and was organised by China EV 100, Tsinghua University, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the China Automotive Technology & Research Center and the Society of Automotive Engineers of China.

According to the forum discussions, the following key factors will help to drive the EV market in China:

Supportive government policy

High demand and supply for low speed EVs

Public transportation

Hybrid EVs for private vehicles

The Forum attracted more than 700 attendees including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Transport. In addition, about 20 companies showcased their latest products, including Voklswagen, Yutong, BMW, BAIC, Mercedes-benz, Nissan and Honda.

The six Forum dicussion topics were:

EV commercialisation

EV Power Battery Development

Low Speed EV Development

Industrialisation of New Energy Bus

EV and Internet Integration

EV Infrastructure Building

G2 Beijing Shanghai Expressway opens EV charging piles

On 11 January, five EVs started a trip across G2 Beijing Shanghai Expressway, a 1,262km motorway linking Beijing and north Shanghai. EV charging piles along the G2 Beijing Shanghai Expressway will open soon with one high speed charging station in every 50km. Using these piles EVs can be charged in as little as 30minutes, with costs at around ¥0.65-0.8(€0.09-0.11) per one kW/hour. The cost for electricity consumption for EVs is only half of that of cars using gasoline.

The State Grid Corporation has already building 24,000 charging piles linking Beijing to Shanghai, Beijing to Xianning, and Qingdao to Shijiazhuang. In terms of miles covered this will be the largest scale deployment of EV charging piles in the world, covering 2,900km. The charging piles can supply electricity to all types of EVs that meet international standards.

Beijing: pilot project uses streetlights as EV charging piles

The city of Beijing has started a pilot project combining streetlights with EV charging piles. The project aims to build a long-term solution for EV charging in cities. In the first pilot 88 streetlights switched to LED light from sodium-vapour lamp will be used as EV charging piles. The electricity saved from using LEDs can charge more than 10 EVs at the same time.

In addition, 8 pure EV low-speed charging piles entered into operation. Charging normally takes 4-5 hours, during the day or at night, using these low-speed charging piles. These piles are part of the EV infrastructure boom currently taking place in Beijing. So far, the charging piles built in the city centre can supply electricity to more than 10,000 EVs per day.